How to redact a PDF so the hidden text can’t be recovered

Drawing a black box over text in a normal PDF editor often only hides it — the words underneath can still be selected and copied. Real redaction removes the content so it can’t be recovered.

Step by step

1. Open Redact PDF and select your PDF.
2. On each page, drag over the text or area you want to black out. The counter shows how many redactions you have added.
3. Use the page arrows to move through the document. Clear this page removes the boxes on the current page if you make a mistake.
4. Click Redact & save PDF and download.

Why this is safe

Every page that has a redaction box is permanently flattened to an image, so the covered content no longer exists as text and can’t be selected, copied or searched. Pages without redactions are left untouched and keep their selectable text.

What to check before sharing

• Search the original for every occurrence of the name or number — it may appear on several pages, in headers or in footers.
• Remember hidden places: document properties can contain author names. Clear them with Edit PDF Metadata.
• Open the redacted file and try selecting the blacked-out area to confirm nothing comes up.

Because redaction happens in your browser, the unredacted original is never uploaded anywhere.